End-gate.



H'. A. HOLTFRERIGH.

BND'GATE. APPLICATION- FILED JAN. 27, 1912.

Patented Oct. 22, 1912.

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HUBERT A. HOLTFRERICH, OF DODGE CITY, KANSAS.

END-GATE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented oet. 22,1912.

Application filed January 27, 1912. Serial No. 673,754.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HUBERT A. HoL'r- FRERICH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Dodge City, in the county of Ford and State of Kansas, have invented certain -new and useful Improvements in End- Gates, of which the following is a specication, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

My inventionV relates to new and useful improvements in end gates` and more particularly to a locking means therefor, and my object is to provide a device of this character which will securely retain the end gate in locked position and which will permit of being quickly and readily operated when it is desired to open the gate.

A further object of the invention resides in providing a locking bar mounted'in bearings on the end gate and adapted to partially rotate therein, said locking bar having the ends thereof bent or oset from thev general trend of the bar and a still further object resides in the provision of an arm on the bar which will permit of being swung to oscillate or partially rotate the bar in its bearings.

A further object of the invention is to provide a pivoted lever on said arm and a still further object resides in providing a spring member in the path of said lever to retain the lever in its effective position.

Still another object of the invention resides in providing a device which is eX- tremely simple and durable in construction,

inexpensive to manufacture, and one which will be very efficient and usefulin operation.

With these and other objects in view, my invention consists in the novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter referred to" and more particularly specification and claims.

In the accompanying drawing, forming a part of this application, Figure l is a fragmentary perspective view of a wagon show ing my improved end gate applied to use thereon, and Fig. 2 is a section through the end gate showing the application and operation of the spring member thereon.

pointed out in the In carrying out my invention I shall re! fer to the drawing in which similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views and in which- 1 indicates a wagon body of any desired type, but preferably such as used in connection with grain wagons, having secured to the inner faces of the sides of said body at the rear ends thereof, the vertical securing or bracing strips 2 and secured to these strips 2 is the end board 3. This end board 3 has formed therein the end gate 4, which is adapted to swing outwardly from its upper end, the same being hinged at its upper end to the end board by means of the hinges 5 and the side edges of the gate 4 are inclined outwardly from their upper to their lower ends, as shown at 6.

Mounted on the rear faces of the end gate 4, adjacent the lower edge thereof, are the bearings 7, within which is mounted and designed to partially rotate therein, a rod or bar 8, said bar having the extremities thereof bent `or offset, as shown at 9, and extended beyond the front face of the strips 2 and secured on the strips 2, adjacent the lower ends thereof, are the straps 10, which are bent outwardly to form keepers for the aforesaid ends 9 of the bar 8. These straps or keepers 10 are so disposed on the strips 2 that when the bar is in one position, the odset portions 9 thereof will be disposed immediately under said keepers to prevent the end gate from being swung outwardly, while when the rod or bar 8 is partially rotated in another position, the ends 9 thereof will be disposed below the free ends of said keepers, whereby said gate may be swung outwardly and in order to provide for the partial rotation of said bar 8 and the securing of the same in its eective position, I provide an arm 11, which is rigidly secured to the bar and when disposed in its vertical position, as shown in Fig. 1, will dispose the opposite portions 9 immediately in the rear of and contacting with the keepers 10. Pivotally carried on the outer end of the arm 11 is a hand lever or the like 12 which, when moved into horizontal position, as shown in Fig. 1, is adapted to be received in an upwardly facing keeper 13, carried on the outer face of the gate 4 and a leaf spring 14, secured at its upper end to the end gate, is disposed vertically thereof and in the path of said hand lever. This leaf spring 14, se cured at its upper end, has the lower portion thereof bent outwardly from the face of the end gate and the lower end of said spring member is disposed in substantial alinement with the keeper 13, so that it will be obvious that as the lever 12 is swung in the one direc-v tion toward the keeper 13, a portion of said lever will contact with the spring 14: and cause the said lever to bind tightly between said keeper and spring at the same time causing the spring to yield. The lever may be swung until the same has completely passed beyond the lower end of the spring, whereupon the latter will again spring outwardly and said handle member will rest in the keeper 18, thus retaining the device in its adjusted position, whereby it will be appreciated that the gate may not be casually opened. i

In practice, should it be desired to open the end gate to remove the contents of the wagon, the operator first forces the lower end of the spring 14 inwardly, whereupon the lever 12 is swung upwardly over the upper face of said spring member to such point as to entirely release the same from its engagement with the keeper 13 and at this point the lever may be swung outwardly which will swing the arm 1 1 outwardly and cause the rod or bar 8 to be partially rotated in its bearings. The partial rotation of the bar in its bearings will dispose the offset or bent extremities 9 below the lower ends of the keepers 10, whereby the end gate may be readily swung outwardly and the contents of the wagon removed.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I have provided a simple, inexpensive and ethcient means for carrying out the objects of the invention and while I have particularly described the elements most well adapted to perform the functions set forth, it is obvious that various changes in form, proportion and in the minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the details of the invention,

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. The combination with a wagon body and an end gate hinged thereto; of a barl` carried on said end gate and partially rotat-able thereon, said bar having the extremities thereof bent and extended beyond theside edges of said end gate, a pair of strips carried on the rear end of the wagon body beyond the side edges of said end gate, said strips having the lower portions thereof bent outwardly and adapted to receive in engagement with the same, the bent extremities of said bar when the latter is disposed in one position, a rigid arm carried on said bar, a pivoted lever carried on said arm, a keeper carried on the end gate and adapted to receive said lever therein, and a leaf spring member also carried on the end gate in the path of said lever, said spring member being adapted to retain the lever in locked position under the keeper.

2. The combination with a wagon body having an end gate thereon; of a locking bar carried on said end gate and partially rotatable thereon, the ends of said locking bar being offset and extended beyond the side edges of the end gate, a pair of strips carried on the rear ends of the wagon body adapted to receive the offset ends of said Vlocking bar thereunder, when said bar is disposed in one position, a rigid arm carried on said bar for the operation of the latter, said arm being adapted to rest flatly against the end gate when the locking bar is disposed in its locking position7 a lever pivoted to the outer end of said arm,an upwardly facing keeper secured on the outer face of said end gate and adapted to| receive said lever therein, and a leaf spring secured at its upper end to the outer face of said end gate in the path of said lever toward the keeper, the free end of said leaf spring being bent outwardly from the face of said end gate and terminating in substantially the same plane as that in which the keeper is disposed, whereby said lever may be retained in its locked position within the keeper.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aiiix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

.HUBERT A. HOLTFRERICH. Vitnesses:

L. D. FLANAGAN, J. L. RANKIN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

